How to Scare Your Co-Workers (Hint: X-Files + Ambient Music)

Here’s how my co-founder, Anthony, scared me earlier this year…and how you can scare your co-workers as well.

I was working late one night and was alone in the office. I stopped to eat dinner and watched the pilot of The X-Files, which I had never seen before but Anthony had recommended earlier that day. When finished, I returned to work but was distracted by UFO noises coming from Anthony’s office. I assumed the noises were all in my head, but they grew louder. Finally, I dusted off my courage and peaked into his office. Anthony had forgotten to turn off his computer. He listens to ambient music while working — which sounds like UFO noises to me. During the day, the office was too loud for me to hear his music. But in the quiet of the office at night & after watching The X-Files, I was ready to call Agent Scully and Agent Mulder for back up.

In addition to being the month for scary stories, October is also the month for updated demographics for mid-sized counties and cities (populations greater than 20,000). The US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey dataset has popular demographics such as age, income, educational attainment and households.

If you need to update your plans & projects with 2013 demographics for cities & counties with populations greater than 20,000, email me & let me know what you need. If you need 2013 demographics for geographies with populations less than 20,000, hang tight. This data will be released in December 2014.

Aside: Anthony is due for a good scare! If you’ve scared your co-workers recently, email me & tell me how you did it.